the dog should be well ribbed up. HIND-QUARTERS--Should be strong
and muscular, quite free from droop or crouch; the thighs long and
powerful; hocks near the ground, the dog standing well up on them
like a Foxhound, and not straight in the stifle. STERN--Should be
set on rather high, and carried gaily, but not over the back or
curled. It should be of good strength, anything approaching a
"pipe-stopper" tail being especially objectionable. LEGS AND FEET--The
_Legs_ viewed in any direction must be straight, showing little or
no appearance of an ankle in front. They should be strong in bone
throughout, short and straight to pastern. Both fore and hind legs
should be carried straight forward in travelling, the stifles not
turned outwards. The elbows should hang perpendicular to the body,
working free of the side. The _Feet_ should be round, compact, and
not large. The soles hard and tough. The toes moderately arched, and
turned neither in nor out. COAT--Should be straight, flat, smooth,
hard, dense, and abundant. The belly and under side of the thighs
should not be bare. As regards colour, white should predominate;
brindle, red, or liver markings are objectionable. Otherwise this
point is of little or no importance. SYMMETRY, SIZE, AND CHARACTER--The
dog must present a general gay, lively, and active appearance; bone
and strength in a small compass are essentials; but this must not
be taken to mean that a Fox-terrier should be cloggy, or in any way
coarse--speed and endurance must be looked to as well as power, and
the symmetry of the Foxhound taken as a model. The terrier, like the
hound, must on no account be leggy, nor must he be too short in the
leg. He should stand like a cleverly-made hunter, covering a lot of
ground, yet with a short back, as before stated. He will then attain
the highest degree of propelling power, together with the greatest
length of stride that is compatible with the length of his body.
Weight is not a certain criterion of a terrier's fitness for his
work--general shape, size and contour are the main points; and if
a dog can gallop and stay, and follow his fox up a drain, it matters
little what his weight is to a pound or so, though, roughly speaking,
it may be said he should not scale over twenty pounds in show
condition.
DISQUALIFYING POINTS: NOSE--White, cherry, or spotted to a
considerable extent with either of these colours. EARS--prick, tulip,
or rose. MOUTH--much overshot or much undershot.
* * * * *
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